Print Worthy

At the end of summer, Southern California enjoyed a barrage of surf that included the biggest south swell to hit the coast in 40 years. In our December Issue, we pay respect to Hurricane Marie, not only for the perfect surf she brought to Southern California’s most iconic waves, but for her ability to resurrect a few of our favorite dormant breaks as well. For a sneak peek at what’s inside the issue, here are five shots from the features that made it to print:

An unknown surfer pulls the eject cord at the Wedge. Photo: Burkard/Nearmann

Chasing the Chubasco, Pt. 1 | The elusive Chubasco, or Latin American Hurricane, slammed swell onto Southern California’s shores like we hadn’t seen for decades. The standard spots were firing, but waves of ages past also roared to life. Do you stay local and surf your homebreak, or go on the hunt for a session unlike any other? We learned the hard way…never go chasing a Chubasco.

Coverboy Oliver Kurtz found himself at Newport Point during this swell of mythical proportion. Photo: Kurvin

Chasing the Chubasco, Pt. 2 | With the 40-year storm at our doorstep, we began to see our average breaks in Southern California evolve into something of mythical proportion. From La Jolla to Newport Point, and Malibu to Sandspit, our favorite waves began serving up barrels only relatable to those seen on tropical surf trips.

Imogen Caldwell was raised on the urchin-encrusted reefs of Western Australia. Photo: Burns

Life on Mars | Unlike most surfers, Imogen Caldwell didn’t learn to ride waves at a welcoming beachbreak. That’s because she grew up on the edge of Western Australia’s Red Desert, where even the most forgiving wave is a heavy barrel over an urchin-encrusted shelf. It was this rugged upbringing that raised the 17-year-old into one of the world’s most unique young surfers.

John Severson somewhere in the ’60s.

Seeds of a Surf Culture | More than anyone else, John Severson created a shared surf culture. Through his art, writing, photography, films, and magazines, he documented surfing during its defining moments in the 1960s. In an excerpt from the new hardcover book John Severson’s SURF, Severson discusses this period of his life and the formation of our surf culture as we know it.

DJ Dettloff holds but one link to the surfboard fence he has been working on for decades. Photo: Evans

Boarded Up | DJ Dettloff has been collecting boards for more than three decades now. The fence he built with them has every iteration of tail, rocker, concave, rail, outline, foam, pigment, and fiberglass to have ever entered the shaper’s vernacular. It is as near a history of the sport as you’ll ever find outside of a book. Part museum, part orphanage, part catacomb.